Afghan militant leader ‘arrested’ in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: On Monday, two Taliban leaders claimed that Pakistani establishments have imprisoned the chief of an independent group of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Rasool.

Mullah Rasool was selected in early November by numerous Taliban squads opposite to Mullah Akhtar Mansoor’s dominance to head the splinter group.

According to the news in media, the two Taliban leaders did not tell when Mullah Rasool was taken into custody but confirmed that he had fled recent power struggle in southern Afghanistan.

Lots of Taliban rebels, counting the separate group’s deputy chief Mullah Mansoor Dadullah and his brother, were killed when Mullah Mansoor’s stalwarts hurled a main offensive against rebels in Zabul province.

Mullah Mansoor’s stalwarts apprehended the areas in Khak-e-Afghan district of Zabul after gory fights in mid-November. Some, counting Mullah Rasool and his second deputy Abdul Manan Niazi, accomplished to escape.

I can confirm that Mullah Rasool has been arrested by authorities in Pakistan after he crossed the border, one Taliban leader said.

The competing Taliban groups have been promised in clashes in parts of Herat province in recent months. In December, scholars brokered a cessation of hostilities between the two factions, but it fell apart in February.

According to the news from media, it clearly stated that ‘Mullah Rasool, who was a part of a Taliban delegation that had arrived in Islamabad in July last year for peace talks, has not yet come up with a policy about negotiations under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. But sources close to the group have hinted it could take part in the talks.’

A highest designation of military leaders of the Afghan Taliban has lately visited Iran in an effort to increase cooperation in view of the emerging threats from the Islamic State, also known by its Arabic acronym Dai’sh, in Afghanistan, a Taliban leader said.

The delegation was controlled by Ibrahim Sadar, the chief of the Taliban military commission, Mehmoodzai Kaku, the Taliban intelligence chief and Mullah Gul Muhammad, the former Taliban governor for Helmand. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was unaware of the visit.

The Iranian security establishment had invited the Taliban several times in the past.